CGI: Teachers are the key to providing children with quality education

In 2008, we announced a commitment at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) to train 10 million teachers by 2015. We undertook this goal, because we believe that every child has the right to a quality education. Throughout the course of a child’s education, there is perhaps no more important influence than the teachers that guide, nurture, and inspire learning.

Strong teacher education programs are one of the key ways that we can help ensure that all children have access to great teachers.  Through the Microsoft Partners in Learning Program, we have invested in 115 countries since 2003 to support quality teacher education, the use of technology in learning, and ongoing professional development as part of our commitment to education.

To date we have reached almost 8 million teachers, and we are continuing to invest in more teacher outreach and training to ensure we reach the goal we set as part of the CGI commitment.

By working with teachers around the world through the Partners in Learning program, we’ve also learned that we need to do more to support the school environments in which teachers work. School leaders need training and ongoing professional development to support transformative change. One teacher can make great things happen in a classroom, but several teachers with supportive, strong leadership can make a whole school great.  And a great school has positive implications for a whole community.

Read on at Microsoft's Unlimited Potential blog and learn more about Innovative Schools in action by looking at videos on Microsoft’s Partners in Learning website.

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